Horse manure (with or without straw/sawdust) is relatively easy to source (most horse places are happy to get rid of it) and can be mixed with wood chips (ratio ca. 50/50 just for a ball park value) for immediate planting. Most plants tolerate it well and it will turn into soil to be reused with more manure and wood chips in the future. Even if compost or more complex mixtures would be slightly better in theory this is absolutely worth doing for the immediate availability and ease. Two ingredients, and so far we’ve had sweet potatoes, beans, strawberries, tomatoes, turnips, carrots, beets, rhubarb, aromatic herbs, sunflowers, squash, cannabis and more
You can add wood ash (not too much, strong pH change!), charcoal (no worries, the soil loves it), organic kitchen waste (no need for a separate compost, just bury it in your soil mix!). But no need for any of this. You don’t even need raised beds. I’ve grown in bags, large and small pots, in makeshift raised beds (metal grid and cardboard structure) and on no-dig soil (just dump on the soil, your soil life takes care of the rest).
I see too many people work in their garden with old-timey ideas of the hard work a garden needs and how it should look. Instead of sweating and getting frustrated you can always choose the shortest path, the fewest steps, the most uncomplicated solution. Never mind the aesthetics, it will look pretty once it grows. Don’t forget to water!
Noooo stop that’s not how to use the guillotine! Then again … whatever, continue, seems to work alright and there’s still so many CEOs to process …